Too many people, not enough homes: Immigration expert exposes the brutal truth behind Australia's housing disaster

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 06:06, 4 May 2026 | Updated: 06:06, 4 May 2026 A leading immigration expert has warned the housing crisis is being driven by record migration levels - claiming young Australians can no longer expect to own a home.  Dr Bob Birrell, a founding director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research, said the Albanese government's refusal to slow down a 'tsunami' of migration has now started to create more negatives than positives. The former adviser said the housing crisis is being driven by high migration, which he believes has spiralled out of control under Labor. 'We're seeing the very serious impact of housing affordability due to overseas migration,' he told the Daily Mail. 'It's a major change in our set‑up where young people can no longer assume their parents' experience of owning a home. 'We have seen an Asianisation of the migration program. It's a fact.' His comments come after new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that, for the first time, people from England are no longer Australia's top source of migrants,  with nearly a third of the population now born overseas. The ABS data revealed people born in India (971,020) now make up Australia's largest overseas‑born population group. Dr Bob Birrell (pictured) said the Albanese government's refusal to slow down a 'tsunami' of migration has now started to create more negatives than positives The statistics show that 8.83million people, out of Australia's population of 27.6million, were born overseas (pictured, shoppers at Pitt St Mall in Sydney The statistics also show that 8.83million people, out of the population of 27.6million, were born overseas - equating to 32 per cent. Chinese-born people are the third largest group of non-Australian-born residents with 732,000 people, which is a peak. The new data also showed that Australia is now ranked eighth in the world for the number of migrants in its population. Australia's net overseas migration peaked in 2023 at 556,000, while there was a projected 306,000 net gain in the 2024-25 financial year. Meanwhile, house prices are rising, with a 1.4 per cent national increase in March 2026, marking 13 consecutive months of growth, driven by demand outpacing new home construction. According to Redbridge pollster Kos Samaras, up to 85 per cent of Australia's Indian community in certain regions voted Labor at the last federal election. Citing this data, MacroBusiness chief economist Leith van Onselen wrote that Labor has a 'direct incentive to maintain a high immigration policy as well as kowtow to India'. Dr Birrell said Labor has benefited politically from migration, even if the migrant vote is overstated. Australian house prices are rising driven by demand outpacing new home construction (stock) 'It's obvious that the Labor Party has made multiculturalism, immigration and open borders an essential feature of its overall government package,' he said.  'That's why they have not done anything to slow this tsunami of migration down. Migrants have bolstered the Labor vote. 'The government and the Treasury like extra people because it means more tax. Employers like extra people because it keeps a lid on wage prices. 'Those on the left that favour open borders and multiculturalism see it as part of what's required if Australia is to embrace global economies.  'There's a lot of forces working here.' Dr Birrell said research conducted by the centre found most voters do not support the current high‑migration agenda.  'The extent of opening up borders has gone way past what's beneficial for most Australians,' he said.  'We're now a country with massive competition for services and have a massive debt to provide all the infrastructure for these people.  Australia is now ranked eighth in the world for the number of migrants in its population 'The benefits have swung strongly against the positives.' Dr Birrell said Australia needed to move towards a more self-reliant policy stance.  'That means being less reliant on mass levels of migration to keep the economy humming along,' he said.  Australia's birth rate has dropped to a record low of 1.48 children per woman, falling well below the replacement rate of 2.1. He said immigration policies have played a role in that decline.  'We're very unlikely to get a restoration of the birth rate while housing for young people is unaffordable. 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